[Objective] The objective of this paper was to analyze the causes and processes of aeolian desertification in Gonghe basin of Qinghai Province, and to provide scientific basis for controlling the ecological environment.[Methods] Google Earth and ArcGIS were used to analyze the distribution characteristics of aeolian desertification in different regions. The movement velocity of sand dunes and the velocity reactivation of fossil dunes were monitored by comparing the interpreted remote-sensing images in six periods. The temperature, precipitation, wind speed, and livestock number were analyzed by the SPSS. In addition, the formation process of aeolian desertification was studied according to the field investigation, grain-size test, and analysis of stratigraphy.[Results] The mobile dunes and sand sheets are widely distributed in Gonghe basin of Qinghai Province. There have a large number of aeolian Yardang landforms, and the sandy lands are interlaced with patch and strip. Stratigraphic analysis showed that the surface of fixed dunes is covered by sandy silt with different thickness, and the layer under there is relatively loose sand. The main forms of aeolian desertification are the reactivation of fixed sand dunes, the exposure of fine sands from rivers and lakes, and the reactivation of fixed sand belts and fossil dunes.[Conclusion] Cemented silts layer is a protective shell of the loose sand, and trampling of grazing animals is main reason for the damage of this protective layer. Under trampling of grazing animals damage, sand flow, and gravity erosion, the collapse and destruction of the silts layer lead more loose sand exposed. The circulation of this process made the reactivation of fixed sand dunes and formed the blowouts, which is the main process of aeolian desertification formation and development in the Gonghe Basin of Qinghai Province.